The Carry-On Bag That Charges Your Phone

There, next to the half-eaten breakfast sandwich I'd left sitting on my bag, was my phone, tethered by a power cord to the suitcase below. Suitcase, breakfast table, and phone charger—that's a multitasking trifecta few pieces of luggage can match.

Away is a newcomer to the luggage game, and its founders are hoping the bags stand out in the sea of boring, neutral-toned luggage in two ways. One is how they're sold: directly to the consumer, like Warby Parker glasses, rather than through a department store or other third-party retailer. (Away founders Jen Rubio and Steph Korey worked there previously.) "You can't look to how the incumbents are handling a situation," Korey says. "In every area of your business, start from scratch."

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The second is the technology. In addition to be a quality carry-on bag that can hold a sandwich and clothes at the same time, the Away Carry-On has a built-in battery and two USB ports on the exterior to keep you powered up during those long layovers.

Away

The $225 carry-on itself looks pretty ordinary: a lightly ribbed and pleasingly simple hard-shell exterior made of Bayer Makrolon polycarbonate, the typical retractable handle, and four nearly silent spinner wheels. Inside, things are little more impressive, with a flap and buckles for compression that actually works, a compact laundry bag, and that crown jewel for juice: a 10,000 mAh battery hidden beneath the lining.

To charge the battery, you plug the suitcase into the wall using a standard micro USB cord and charging block (included with the suitcase). With a full charge, it can charge an iPhone 6S five times. As for charging cycles, Away says it's tested the battery, running it through hundreds of charging cycles, and seen "no impact to the charging abilities."

Batteries tend to make things heavy. However, the suitcase, which holds 38 liters, is remarkably light for any carry-on, not to mention one with a battery, at just 7.2 pounds—a difference I thought wouldn't make a difference until I was heaving the bag into the overhead compartment, when I remembered that every pound counts.

Away

Depending on what suitcase you already have, $225 may or may not seem like a bargain. Away is trying to target luggage buyers who feel like they're choosing between "cheap crap" at one end of the spectrum and unaffordable bags at the other end. "Prices are very inflated," Korey says, and to get around that, Away went for the direct-consumer model, bypassing retailers to get the price below the $500 to $1000 range you'd pay for high-end bags by luggage companies such as Tumi and Briggs and Riley.

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Does Away's high-tech carry-on really match up to those premium offerings? Some parts of the bag don't feel so luxurious, and though weaknesses are few and far between, they're noticeable. The zippers, including the main exterior one, feel flimsy, though Away insists they're durable and covers them under a limited warranty. I could see myself ripping the zipper pull off the inside mesh compartment. The pulls fit into a TSA-approved lock, but only after some awkward positioning to get the zipper pulls to fold just so in order to nestle into the lock's slot. And the exterior is so sensitive that sliding the bag into a cloth-covered car left light scuff marks that wouldn't come off with the usual 409/Fantastik treatment.

Those downsides matter, but for me, the upsides of Away overcame them. That battery may seem unnecessary if you're in JFK's JetBlue terminal, for example, where power outlets abound. But hop over to LaGuardia or some other airport with few plugs and you'll be grateful you don't need to crouch next to the wall (if you're lucky) to get a spot at the power outlet. It's also great for charging during transportation to the airport. Beyond the battery, the compression system—a stiff flap held down by two buckled straps—smushes clothes without wrinkling them, and the main compartment is without frills, which leaves more room for clothes.

The next iteration of the bag might include the main feature I wished this version had: a tracking device that could show you, even when you're out of range, where the bag is. That way, even if you and your luggage get separated, your bag isn't totally lost.

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